The biggest Peachtree City failures- traffic control and arts/entertainment

Over a decade ago, I was a county commissioner in a rural Georgia county. Some old friends who lived in Coweta County told me that Peachtree City was snobby. But I moved there anyway to be near family and superior medical services for my wife, who had terminal cancer. And I am very glad I did for many reasons.

I found that Peachtree City, where I have now lived for over 10 years, is a fabulous place. It’s diverse and the people here are much friendlier than just about anywhere.

Most of us, maybe all of us, moved to PTC for its lifestyle. Several self-contained “villages” where you feel comfortable- a beautiful, planned community. I am in the Kedron village area and can quickly access shopping and other services. Wow, my own little Mayberry near Atlanta.

PTC consists of six villages. The innovative original concept was to live, work and play within each one. Generally, it has succeeded, although there are a couple of areas where it has fallen short- traffic and arts/entertainment. The problem is that these two items are interrelated, and these are not easy problems to solve.

In 2020, PTC Mayor Fleisch and the City Council’s promoted a City Center idea using the Atlanta Regional Commission’s (ARC’s) $128,000 “Livable Communities Initiative” (LCI). Peachtree City’s then government held public meetings to obtain input regarding creation of a PTC “city center” area near the current city hall which would serve as a way to bring in more night life, arts and entertainment to the city. And bring in younger residents.

The leaders who ran PTC back then, almost all of whom have changed, quickly discovered that residents don’t favor creating a City Center, at least as proposed by Fleisch and friends. They questioned -a. the extremely poor location, near the Hwy 54-74 intersection, which would inevitably increase already unbearable traffic and b. the proposed addition of multi-family and cheaper single-family housing, hurting PTC’s tax base.

Regarding traffic, ARC’s 2023 Metro Atlanta Speaks survey indicated Fayette County residents do not support public transit (https://cdn.atlantaregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-metro-atlanta-speaks-report-final-version-for-arc.pdf ). Of all the counties in the Metro area, only one county (Forsyth) had lower support for mass transit. So, that option for traffic easement is out.
Still, we must construct strategies to get cars to move more effectively within and through our city and county. Frankly, much of the PTC traffic is due to non-residents. Both Coweta and Fayette County residents use Hwy 54 going to and from work, school and shopping. These commuters are just as concerned about cross town traffic as PTC’s citizens, if not more so.

The intersection of Georgia Highways 54 and 74 is our common city/county traffic nightmare. And we cannot…and should not… simply put the blame on people who are currently in office. Politicians who were in office many years ago made the decisions leading to the mess we are in. I was not here then, but former Mayor Bob Lennox stated to The Citizen (10-12-05)- “It is not often in government that you can clearly find the culprit when things go wrong, but in this case every one of us who has worked for years to make TDK Boulevard a reality knows that Steve Brown stopped it.” If this is accurate, it has major consequences for the Mayoral race.
Although PTC is in the midst of a $19 million state DOT project adjusting traffic lanes, excessive congestion will still exist at that intersection. Further, just say goodbye to the visionary “overpass above PTC”, enabling cross town drivers from Coweta to avoid the Hwy 54-74 intersection; the state will not fund it, especially after funding the turn lane project.

We need a new framework to move on. That can only be done by having a traffic plan to relieve congestion via alternate routes. My suggestion is that our city government get with the government of Fayette and Coweta County to create a coordinated plan, including resources. Then, all three entities can lobby the state for the money to implement it.